Entrance road to the Crazy Horse Monument and Visitor Center.
May 5, 2024
Barry and I went to see the Crazy Horse Monument today! I was very excited to revisit this monument. I was first here the summer somewhere between 1967-1970 with my parents. The schematic drawing was 100% necessary to “see” what the monument would be someday. At that point there was only a very small hole in the area that would become the full cut out area under the outstretched arm. At least from the visitor center it looked quite small. It was a tunnel out to the other side.
1968:
1970:
Summer of 1997, I returned with my parents along with my kids and their dad. It was our big family trip from Washington State to Ohio. It was great for me to see the progress. The face was almost completed! It was disappointing that the entire monument wasn’t almost completed in the near thirty years since my first visit, but this memorial continues to be funded solely by the cost of admission and private charitable gifts. It is NOT funded in any part by Federal or State funds! Federal funding was offered at one point, but it was turned down due to fear it would be the first project the U.S. government would cut when looking for cuts to the budget.
1999:
May 2024:
Today, the face is now 100% finished and sealed (sealing was not done at Mt. Rushmore), and the pointing and curved fingers are totally distinguishable. I appreciate the family’s decades of dedication to Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski’s dream. They really have made a lot of structural progress with all the horizontal “benches” that will allow precise work. Hopefully, progress on the actual carving will start to happen now. The full arm is supposed to be completed by the end of this summer (2024), and they hope to make some progress on the horses mane. Unfortunately, I don’t expect the Crazy Horse Memorial to be completed in my lifetime, but it is still exciting. We also need to keep in mind that this Crazy Horse carving is not a relief sculpture on the side of a mountain like Mt. Rushmore, but it is almost a 360 degree sculpture. We don’t see the progress on the other side from the Visitor Center vantage point.
CRAZY HORSE: The Crazy Horse Monument is pretty phenomenal, but this painting that Korczak did in 1970 should help people appreciate even the early work that took place. The gray in the background is the original mountain rock that extended beyond the head, outstretched arm of Crazy Horse and his horse that had to be carefully removed.
Someday this monument will be such an incredible feat, where no pictures will do it justice in its beauty and overall emotional impact that experiencing it in person will evoke. It will be visible from great distances with 270 degree views. The head size of Crazy Horse is 87.5 ft compared to the Mt Rushmore presidential heads of 60 ft. The horse will be 563 ft high and 641 ft long!
SO, WHY Crazy Horse?
The Native Americans chose Lakota Leader, Crazy Horse as the subject for the Memorial. Korczak wrote, “Crazy Horse has never been known to have signed a treaty or touched the pen. Crazy Horse, was carved not as a lineal likeness, but more as a memorial to the spirit of Crazy Horse – to his people. With the left hand gesturing forward in response to the derisive question asked, ‘Where are your lands now?’ Crazy Horse replied, ‘My lands are where my dead lie buried.'”
The cost was $12 per person to enter the Crazy Horse Monument area. (Parking was included).
For $5 more you can take a bus to the base of the mountain for closer views. So glad we did that. Our driver, Mike, was terrific. He provided a wealth of information both down and back.
I like this next photo–you can get the feeling of Crazy Horse’s hair.
It was cool to be at the base of the mountain.
We spent about 3 hours here. I was pleasantly surprised with the additional buildings. There was so much to see. These were added starting in 2001. I was truly blown away.
The Grounds of the Visitor Center
This horse sculpture only touches the ground at one point! Pretty amazing.
Below is a model of the visitor center and its additional features in relationships to the location of the Crazy Horse Monument in the background.
Mountain Carving Gallery
The carving gallery showed a lot of the tools used throughout the years. Evidently the 44 ft high feather that will be on Crazy Horse’s head will be hand-built from eleven 4-foot high blast fragments.
The following picture includes information on the creation of “benches” which take time to create, but are necessary for carving work to happen on each level. Pretty amazing.
I selected two small rocks–one for us and one for Richard.
This extraordinary custom 2005 motorcycle was a fundraiser raffle that Deb Martin, owner of Elite/Custom Motorcycles of Prescott, AZ. The winners decided to leave it on loan at Crazy Horse for visitors to enjoy. The bike raffle raised $200,000 for the monument dream!
Sculptor Home and Studio
Sculptor Korczak Ziolowski (1908-1982) was born in Boston of Polish descent. He endured a difficult upbringing and became a self-taught and renowned sculptor, gaining recognition at the 1939 World’s Fair which attracted the attention of Chief Henry Standing Bear who invited Korczak to the Black Hills, to carve Crazy Horse. He accepted. Korczak and his wife Ruth Ross raised ten children here, who all took part in the Dream of Crazy Horse. While living “on site”, they raised Holstein-Friesian cows.
Dedicated management and staff, including some of Ziolkowski children and grandchildren, carry on the project today. Here is a link to a pictorial timeline of the memorial.
Other works of Korczak:
This Head of a Horse statue was carved by Ziolkowski from the stump of a mahogany tree in 1940. It took him just nine days to complete.
A fun photo from 1977 – Korczak and Ruth dancing in their home. The dress on display was Ruth’s wedding dress. I love it. Simply yet elegant.
The Indian Museum of North America
Native American Educational and Cultural Center
There’s just something about a mom and her papoose that I find adorable.
I remember this quilt from a previous visit. 🙂
I loved the visitor center gift shop. When traveling, and I see something I really like, but I know we don’t want knick-knacks in AZ, I take a picture of it. That satisfies the desire to “have it”. They had so many gorgeous pieces of pottery.
I used to have a Kachina doll similar to those below. (Or it might have been Abby’s.
I was looking for a t-shirt from here. I found the perfect one! In fact, it was also the one Barry really liked, too. We got them in two different colors.
The message on it really spoke to me.
Wouldn’t it be cool if you could get even closer to the monument!? Well, you can!! Twice a year there is an event called Volksmarch!
VOLKSMARCH – A Biannual Event. 2025: June 7, and Sept 28
This is a 6.2 mile hike up onto the arm of Crazy Horse! What great views. Evidently the path of the hike is altered each year to keep it fresh and interesting even for repeat hikers. I would love to go within the next few years. For more details and pictures check out this official link – VOLKSMARCH.
Yesterday, I felt extreme pride and patriotism at Mt Rushmore. Today, there is a special, humbled, loving spirit I feel within me from being present here. The inner strengths and beliefs of these Native Americans thankfully transcends generations.
UPDATE: Some predict the body and head of the horse will be completed in 2037. We can hope!